[Letter] Russians are Welcome in America

Thanks,.That means a lot. Focusing on getting out right now.

It's indelicate to point out, but I'd like to reiterate that our racism is based far more on physical appearance than on cultural background. When I've traveled in eastern Europe, only language, dress, and grooming preferences reveal that the locals are from there rather than from the US.

If anxiety about English fluency is a sticking point for getting people out of there, is this a place where the community could step up? Would support like calls with and proofreading by fluent English speakers in this community help get people out who might have been unwilling to take that risk without it? If so, I would be interested in helping out in this way, because selfishly I like feeling like I'm doing something to help. Would others feel similarly?

>Often, the only ways to enter the US legally are to marry someone in the US or to get the sponsorship of a powerful tech company.

Actually even Tech companies can't typically do it. Years ago, I had an offer from a FAANG company that wanted to hire me to one of their US offices. However as it turns out there is no regular "skilled worked sponsored by a company visa". The paths are:

H-1B: lottery, happens once a year, consistently oversubscribed. So you'd have to wait at least one year, likely several
L-1B: intracompany transferee. Bunch of requirements, most notably having been employed in another country by the same company for 1+ years
O-1: "extraordinary ability by sustained national or international acclaim" Some people do this, but unless you're a Nobel prize winner it's a gamble

They ended up parking me in Europe in a country with a more normal immigration system (which is almost any EU country) with the aim of doing L-1B later, but I ended up staying.

There's no quick and easy path to enter the US even if you speak perfect English or even if you received an education in US universities. However, compared to many places the family path in the US is easier (e.g. moving my parents from Russia to the EU is almost impossible unless they apply for refugee status which wasn't on the cards until very recently).

I definitely think it's possible that, due to this war, a Russian immigrant might face some negative reactions or people that don't want to be their friend, and it depends on what they assume are your political beliefs (i.e. do you support Putin.) It's not so much racism as the political division and the assumptions people make. Most people will say "I support the Russian people (who are anti-war), but I hate Putin," and they would be happy to associate with a fervently anti-war Russian. But, if you openly support Putin and the war, you might find it very difficult to make friends here. In that case I would suggest a different country.

I generally agree with this, but I'd like to check my optimism against some forecasting questions on US immigration policy with respect to the war. I don't see anything on Metaculus here.

"American immigration policy is unwelcoming to immigrants."

Relative to the truly enormous number of people wishing to immigrate, perhaps. Pre-covid levels of over a million people a year are, however, truly enormous in an absolute sense, even if these people were randomly distributed across the entire country (they're not).